SEC making big change to graduate transfer rule

Today was a good day for SEC athletes who are/become graduate transfers.

SEC officials agreed in vote to grant graduate transfers who transfer from and to SEC schools immediate eligibility rather than forcing them to wait a season.

Of course, given the constant turnover of Kentucky’s basketball roster, this doesn’t necessarily affect them. However, for other SEC schools or even other UK athletics, it certainly is a popular commodity.

The rule, effective immediately, could have an interesting impact on the upcoming seasons for all sports.

For example, wide receiver Van Jefferson who transferred from Ole Miss to Florida will be eligible for this fall. Backup offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy will also likely be on the move from Alabama to either Auburn or Tennessee.

One of the coaching faces of SEC athletics, Nick Saban, had this to say regarding the rule change.

“If we agree in the SEC in these meetings that we’re going to have free agency in our league and everybody can go wherever they want to go when they graduate and that’s what best for the game, then I think that’s what we should do,” he said.

The expectation is Kennedy and many other graduated athletes with ideas of transferring will make their move in light of the new rule. It will be interesting to see if this turns into anything that affects the Kentucky Wildcats in football. They’ve had their fair share of transfers leave the program, both as regular transfers and graduate transfers. It would have really stung to lose guys like Jeff Badet and Denzil Ware to schools within the conference.